The integration of air and fuel systems can provide certain advantages for the manufacturers of automotive vehicles that use internal combustion engines as their powerplants. One important advantage is that the OEM can purchase from a supplier an integrated air-fuel system which is fully ready to be installed as a unit on an engine.
The adaptation of certain manufacturing technologies to the fabrication of an integrated air induction manifold-fuel rail for an integrated air-fuel system has enabled the number of separate parts of such a system to be significantly reduced. But such economy in fabrication has been at the expense of limiting usage to what are commonly referred to as bottom-feed fuel injectors. Heretofore, it has not been possible to incorporate top-feed fuel injectors in an integrated air induction manifold-fuel rail. The present invention enables this limitation to be overcome so that it now becomes possible to use top-feed fuel injectors in an integrated air induction manifold-fuel rail.
Briefly, the ability to use top-feed fuel injectors in an integrated air induction manifold-fuel rail is achieved by making the distance from a fuel outlet port of the fuel rail to a fuel injection port of the induction air system greater than the axial length of a top-feed fuel injector as measured from the entrance of the injector's fuel inlet tube to the tip of the injector's nozzle, and telescopically mounting a rigid connector tube on one of these two ports for positioning to a telescopically retracted position that allows the fuel injector to be disposed between the connector tube and the other of these two ports for installation and removal of the fuel injector and to a telescopically extended position that captures the fuel injector in installed position between the connector tube and the other of the two ports. In the telescopically extended position of the connector tube, it telescopes over the entrance end of the fuel injector inlet tube to form a fluid-tight joint while its telescopic engagement with the one port is maintained as another fluid-tight joint.
Once a fuel injector has been installed and captured, a clip may be used to assure and maintain a desired orientation of the fuel injector and/or prevent retraction of the connector tube. It is also possible to establish electric connection of a fuel injector with an injector operating circuit concurrent with the telescopic extension of the connector tube by providing on the connector tube an electrical connector that comes into mating engagement with a matching electrical connector on the fuel injector as the connector tube is being telescopically extended. Another advantage provided by the invention is that fuel injectors may be serviced on an individual basis, thereby avoiding breaking of the seals of other fuel injectors not requiring service that would heretofore have been the case for a system having a separably attached fuel rail that required removal of the entire fuel rail even if only a single fuel injector required service.
Certain features of the invention may also have general application in air-fuel systems that are not integrated air-fuel systems.
The inventive principles will be disclosed in the ensuing description and claims, which are accompanied by drawings illustrating a presently preferred embodiment of the invention according to the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. In the various drawing Figs., like reference numerals are used to designate corresponding parts.